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Question

BOX Relay not functioning with certain account

  • April 16, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 80 views
S

Hi all, and developers，

I am an assistant from a company where some of us have the individual account, while some senior and managers would have the Business and Enterprise account . 

We recently set up a relay with the Business and Enterprise account, which basically would alert certain managers when there is a file uploaded to a box folder. and now there is a problem:

When another Business and Enterprise user upload the file, it will trigger the relay;

But when an individual account user uploads the file, it will not.

 

Is there any way to solve this issue?

Thanks in advance

    1 reply

    Jey Bueno Box
    • Jey Bueno Box
    • Community Manager
    • April 16, 2026

    👋 Hi ​@SunnyLai, welcome to the Box Community! I’d be glad to help.


    Box Relay is only available on paid Box Business Plan accounts (or higher). Individual/free Box accounts do not have access to Box Relay. This means:

    • Relay workflows can only be created and owned by users on Business or Enterprise plans.
    • The workflow trigger is tied to the folder and the permissions of the account that owns it — but more importantly, Relay itself is a feature restricted to Business Plan and above.

    Additionally, to build or run a workflow a user must:

    1. Have Box Relay enabled by an Admin for the enterprise.
    2. Have permission to use Relay (not restricted by admin settings).
    3. Have Editor access or higher on the folder used by the workflow trigger.

    Individual (free) account users fall outside the enterprise managed user structure entirely, so Relay cannot be enabled for them.


    We don’t have a direct workaround that allows Relay to trigger specifically because a free/individual user uploads a file, however, here are practical options:

    1. Use Box File Request instead of a direct upload trigger. File Request is available to anyone — including people without a Box account — to submit files. You can then set a File Request trigger in Relay, which fires when anyone (including anonymous or free-account users) submits content via the File Request form. This is the recommended approach for collecting files from external or non-Business users.

    2. Require uploaders to log in with a Box account. If you need to track who is uploading, you can require a Box login before submission via File Request — but note this would prompt free users to create an account if they don’t have one.

    3. Ensure the folder and workflow are owned by a Business/Enterprise user. The workflow trigger fires based on activity in the folder, regardless of who uploads — so as long as the workflow owner has the right plan and permissions, uploads from any user (including free accounts collaborating on the folder) should trigger the workflow.

    Key distinction: If the issue is that a free-account user is uploading directly to a collaborated folder and Relay isn’t firing, verify that the workflow owner has an active Business/Enterprise plan and that Relay is enabled for them in the Admin Console under Enterprise Settings > Content & Sharing > Relay.


    If the problem persists after confirming the above, it is recommended to open a case with Box Support for further investigation.

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